“I want to thank everyone who helped us over the past few days to perform this concert,” he said at the concert held at Vahdat Hall.

“I’m very glad to collaborate with the Iranian musicians in performing pieces by the Italian composer [Giuseppe Verdi] and I’m very impressed by the performance,” he added.

“Since Iran and Italy enjoy rich ancient civilizations, we can use music to bridge between the two civilizations,” he noted.

A large number officials and diplomats attended the concert that will be also reprised at the Pala de André Center in the Italian city of Ravenna tomorrow.

“Muti’s visit to Tehran was extremely valuable for us and I hope everything goes well at the joint performance in Italy,” said Tehran Symphony Orchestra conductor Shahrdad Rohani, who invited Muti to Tehran.

The orchestras also performed the national anthems of Iran and Italy at the beginning of the concert. Rohani called it the best performance of Iran’s national anthem that he has ever heard.